PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - May 21, 2022

Published on May 21, 2022 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Dodgers (24-16) at Sugar Land Space Cowboys (16-24)

Game #41 of 150/Road #20 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Michael Grove (NR, -.--) vs. SUG-RHP Chad Donato (2-2, 4.50)

Saturday, May 21, 2022 | Constellation Field | Sugar Land, Texas | 6:05 p.m. CT

Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers continue their three-game road series against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at 6:05 p.m. at Constellation Field looking to even the series after a loss in Friday's opener. The Dodgers have dropped three of their last five games.

Last Game: The Sugar Land Space Cowboys cashed in on two separate chances with the bases loaded and no outs to score three runs each time and send the Oklahoma City Dodgers to a 6-2 loss Friday night at Constellation Field. The Dodgers got off to a good start, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. After an error allowed the first run to score, Eddy Alvarez followed with a RBI single to make it 2-0. However, Sugar Land scored three runs in the bottom of the inning after loading the bases with none out. The game remained 3-2 until the seventh inning when once again the Space Cowboys loaded the bases with none out and scored three runs. The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the eighth inning and put two runners on base with none out in the ninth inning but could not score in either instance.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Michael Grove (0-0) makes his Triple-A debut six days after making his Major League debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers...Grove made the jump from Double-A for a spot start with the Los Angeles Dodgers May 15 against Philadelphia. He pitched a 1-2-3 first inning, including his first ML strikeout, and went on to issue three walks, four hits and four unearned runs with three strikeouts over 3.2 innings at Dodger Stadium in a no decision...Grove became the first Los Angeles Dodger to make his Major League debut straight from Double-A since relief pitcher Danny Coulombe in Sept. 2014 and was the first player ever to be promoted to the Majors from Double-A over Andrew Friedman's 17 seasons as the head of baseball operations for a Major League team...Grove made five starts with Tulsa to open the season, going 0-1 with a 2.76 ERA in 16.1 innings with 22 strikeouts against five walks. He allowed one run or less in three of his first five starts while posting a 0.98 WHIP and holding opponents to a .180 batting average...He also spent the entire 2021 season with Tulsa, making 21 appearances (19 starts) with a 1-4 record and 7.86 ERA over 71.0 IP with 88 K's and 42 walks...Grove was added to the Dodgers' 40-man roster in November and entered the 2022 season ranked as the Dodgers' No. 24 prospect by Baseball America...He was originally signed by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of West Virginia University even though he missed that season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Grove was the highest-drafted player to sign with the Dodgers that year and is the first player from that draft class to reach the Majors.

Against the Space Cowboys: 2022: 4-3 2021: 12-12 All-time: 16-15 At SUG: 6-7 The Dodgers meet Sugar Land for the second time this season and for the first time at Constellation Field...The Dodgers won the initial series between the teams, 4-2, April 26-May 1, closing out the series with three straight wins and outscoring the Space Cowboys, 39-30, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Miguel Vargas had a team-best eight hits while Stefen Romero racked up nine RBI...The teams split their 2021 season series, 12-12, and both teams went 6-6 on their home fields as Sugar Land played its first season as a Triple-A franchise. The Dodgers won nine of the first 12 games before Sugar Land took nine of the final 12 games and six of the last seven games...The teams last met in Sugar Land Aug. 19-24, with the Skeeters winning the series, 5-1, including three one-run victories...Throughout the 2021 season series, Keibert Ruiz led OKC with 23 hits, including five homers, tying Zach Reks for a team-best 16 RBI in the series. Pitchers Aaron Wilkerson and Darien Núñez each went 3-0 with Wilkerson racking up 24 K's (21.1 IP) and Núñez notching 19 K's (14.2 IP)...The Dodgers have won three of the last four games against the Space Cowboys after they had lost 11 of the previous 15 meetings. However, going back to last season, the Dodgers have lost six of their last seven games at Constellation Field.

Forty Winks: OKC is 24-16 for the team's best record through 40 games since starting 27-13 in 2018. The Dodgers went 20-20 through 40 games last season and were 14-26 in 2019...In OKC's seven seasons as a Dodgers affiliate, the team has posted a winning record through 40 games five times. The 2016 team that eventually advanced to the PCL Championship Series was the last to have a 24-16 ledger through 40 games.

Opposite Offense: The Dodgers were held to a season-low three hits Friday night, and it was the team's lowest hit output in any game since the last time they played in Sugar Land Aug. 24, 2021. At one point between the second and eighth innings, the Sugar Land pitching staff retired 18 of 19 batters, including a run of 14 in a row. OKC went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base...Over the last three games, the Dodgers have scored seven total runs while batting .185 (17x92) overall, including 4-for-40 with runners on base and 1-for-23 with runners in scoring position. Leading up to Wednesday, the Dodgers had scored at least five runs in 11 straight games and batted .343 (139x405) with 110 runs. After tallying at least 10 hits in three straight games and in six of seven games prior to Wednesday - including 16 hits Tuesday - the Dodgers have had diminishing hit totals each of the last three games (8, 6, 3)...Despite the slowdown, the Dodgers still lead all 30 Triple-A teams in runs (274), batting average (.283), walks (204), OBP (.382), SLG (.474) and OPS (.856) and rank second in hits (387). They continue to lead the Minors in OBP and rank second in OPS, AVG, walks and runs and are third in hits.

More Than Steady Eddy: Eddy Alvarez went 1-for-4 with a RBI single last night to extend his hitting streak to a season-best eight games, batting .533 (16x30) with four doubles, a triple, two homers, 12 RBI, 11 runs scored and seven walks. He has now reached base in 23 of his last 32 plate appearances (14x23, 7 BB, 2 HBP) and in 11 of his last 16 plate appearances...Entering Thursday, Alvarez had reached base four times in five straight games and had a stretch of four straight multi-hit games...He has five multi-hit games during his current hitting streak, which is tied for third-longest among OKC players this season. Due to the recent surge, Alvarez now leads Triple-A with a .466 OBP and nine HBP's this season, while his .331 average is fourth in the PCL...Alvarez has reached base in 11 straight games.

Lookin' for a Busch: Michael Busch collected the team's only extra-base hit Friday night with a double off the right-center field fence in the third inning. Busch has hit safely in each of his first four Triple-A games, going 5-for-17 with three extra-base hits. Between OKC and Double-A Tulsa, Busch has picked up at least one hit in 12 consecutive games, going 17-for-44 (.386) with three home runs, five doubles, 14 runs and eight RBI...He was promoted from Double-A Tulsa Tuesday after leading the Drillers in home runs (11), RBI (29), walks (24) and OBP (.445). In his Triple-A debut, Busch went 2-for-5 and hit a two-run homer in his second at-bat.

Mighty Miguel: Miguel Vargas collected two walks and scored a run last night to push his league-leading totals to 39 runs and 27 walks (tied with Sugar Land's David Hensley). Vargas also leads the league with 46 hits, but was held 0-for-3 last night...On Thursday, Vargas went deep as part of OKC's three-homer third inning for his second homer in three games...Vargas has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games (15x46) and has also hit safely in 17 of his last 20 games, going 29-for-80 (.363) with 10 extra-base hits, 12 multi-hit games, 16 RBI, 15 walks and 27 runs scored.

On the Lamb: Jake Lamb also drew two walks last night and scored a run. He's now reached base in 19 of his last 20 games while hitting safely in 16 of those games. During the 20-game stretch, Lamb is batting .342 (25x73) with seven homers, three doubles, 19 RBI, 17 runs scored and 13 walks...On Thursday he led OKC with two hits, including his team-leading 10th home run of the season when he went back-to-back with Miguel Vargas. He's now homered in four of his last eight games in and five of his last 11 games.

Ups and Downs on the Mound: The OKC pitching staff racked up 11 strikeouts last night for their 21st double digit strikeout game this season. They also did not allow an extra-base hit for the sixth time this season...However, the Dodgers allowed six runs, marking the fourth time in the last five games OKC has allowed five or more runs in a game and the third time in the last six games allowing six or more runs...Over the last 14 games, the Dodgers are 9-5. In the nine wins, they've allowed 28 runs total. In the five losses, they've allowed 53 runs total, with at least six runs in each game and at least nine runs in four of five games...Sugar Land scored all six of its runs last night after loading the bases with none out in the first and seventh innings. Opponents are now batting .410 with the bases loaded this season and have a .500 OBP in those situations...Opponents have scored in the first or second inning in 17 of the last 24 games and have scored 32 runs in the first two innings over the last 16 games.

All Walks of Life: The OKC offense drew seven more walks last night and now have 56 walks in the last nine games. The Dodgers rank second overall among the 120 teams in the Minors with 204 walks, with only Single-A Lake Elsinore producing more walks (210)...On the other hand, the pitching staff issued seven more walks last night. They have handed out 32 walks over the last five games and 22 walks over the last three games. OKC has allowed the third-most walks in the PCL this season (186).

Around the Horn: After last night's defeat, the Dodgers have now dropped four of their last five series openers and are 1-3 in road series openers this season...Following his team-best 11-game hitting streak, Zach McKinstry has been held without a hit in back-to-back games for just the second time this season and first time since going without a hit in three straight OKC games April 29-May 5. He still tops the PCL with a .359 batting average, is tied for second with a .450 OBP and tied for fourth with 42 hits...Last night was the fifth time this season neither the Dodgers nor their opponent hit a home run...The Dodgers had their season-high streak of eight straight games with a stolen base end last night (11 SB)...Tomás Telis has hit safely in eight of his last night games, going 12-for-33 (.364) with 10 RBI. He has collected at least one hit in 13 of his last 15 games with a plate appearance, batting .382 (21x55) during the stretch...The Dodgers have been charged with four errors over the last three games after committing three total errors over their previous six games. The team's 40 total errors this season are second-most in the PCL.

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